Pakistani opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto attends an election rally in Peshawar December 26, 2007.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Former Pakistani Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack Thursday near the capital
Islamabad Thursday, her party and interior ministry said.
The suicide attacker first opened fire at her as she
got into her car and then blew himself near the car after Bhutto finished
addressing an election rally in a park in Rawalpindi, some 30 kms south from
Islamabad.
This photo shows the scene after
explosion in Rawalpindi Thursday. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir
Bhutto died after being shot and seriously injured in the explosion.
(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Police confirmed that Bhutto was shot by her attacker
before he blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack Thursday outside a campaign
rally. Witnesses said that around 20 other people were also killed and more than
40 injured in the attack.
Bhutto and her secretary Naheed Khan were taken to a
local hospital in the city where she succumbed to injuries.
Information Secretary of Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) Sherry Rehman was also injured.
Interior ministry Spokesman Brig (Retd) Javed Iqbal
Cheema said that the attacker struck while Bhutto was leaving the venue and the
blast severely damaged her vehicle.
Doctors said that Bhutto was hit at her neck and
chest and they tried to save her life.
Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security advisor, confirmed
her death at6:13 p.m. (1313 GMT)
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif went to the
hospital and expressed condolences with PPP leaders and workers and condemned
the assassination.
He announced cancellation of election campaign of his
party as a sign of solidarity with the PPP.
In major cities of Pakistan like Rawalpindi, Karachi,
Peshawar and Quetta, PPP supporters went on streets chanting anti-government
slogans. They also burned tyres in several cities.
Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's
Party, served twice as Pakistan's prime minister between 1988 and 1996. She had
returned to Pakistan on Oct. 18 after an eight-year exile.
Born on June 21, 1953 in the southern Pakistani city
of Karachi, Bhutto was the first woman to be a prime minister of the Muslim
world. She was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan between 1988 and 1996.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is holding an
emergency meeting at the presidency Thursday with top government officials after
the assassination of Bhutto, state-run television reported.
Musharraf appealed to the nation to remain peaceful
after the death of Bhutto "so that the evil designs of terrorists can be
defeated," state TV said.
